Kate Beckinsale is Not Returning For Any More Underworld Films

Kate Beckinsale has revealed in an interview that she won’t be returning for any more Underworld movies.

The Underworld series rivals the Resident Evil films for the title of ‘longest running franchise that is also complete shit’, yet there is still an almost quaint charm to them. The series came out of that post-Matrix era where it felt like you could throw a long leather coat on a Teletubbie and make it the most badass thing in the world.

Underworld featured vampires, werewolves, and vampire-werewolves battling it out, but what held the series together was the high quality of actors they managed to hire: Bill Nighy, Derek Jacobi, Martin Sheen and, of course, Kate Beckinsale as the protagonist Selene, remembered mostly for her convincing performance and tight… characterization.

It is sad news for ironic perverts everywhere then, as Kate Beckinsale told Variety that she would not be donning the catsuit anymore. Her explanation was short, with her simply saying “I wouldn’t return. I’ve done plenty of those”. She did give some other possible cryptic hints in the interview, such as saying she always felt more comfortable making indie films rather than big blockbuster franchises, but she largely left us in the dark as to why she isn’t going to be returning to Underworld.

A quite probable motivator is that Beckinsale married Underworld co-creator Len Wiseman following their working together on the original film. With them filing for divorce, this adds another reason for why Beckinsale may not want to return to the role.

Still, it’s not all bad news for Underworld fans. Wiseman has said that he was working on a TV series inspired by the franchise with himself as show-runner. It is not confirmed, though it does show that many people involved in the franchise are still interested in carrying on.